An empathetic workplace is one that accepts that humans work here, and does its best to create an environment where they can thrive. Even on bad days, even during upheaval, even when the world is on fire.
The world has been on fire quite a lot lately.
If we expect people to act like output production machines that are unaffected by the fires around them, we will fail. But if we endeavor to recognize what is actually happening with our workforce, and to give them support when they need it, well. That’s how you build an army. That’s how you create the kind of resilience, trust, and respect that will keep that army cohesive and striving. Even when it’s hard. Even through the mud and fire and chaos.
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There is something unique about the West’s feverish desire to commit collective suicide by misguided empathy. Interestingly, in his mammoth twelve-volume A Study of History, the British historian Arnold J. Toynbee explained why civilizations die. This has since been summarized by the following maxim: “Civilizations die from suicide, not by murder.”
The general argument is that societies decay because of the self-inflicted failures of their elites in a myriad of ways. The American philosopher James Burnham echoed that sentiment in his 1964 book Suicide of the West, wherein he proclaimed: “It may be added that suicide is probably more frequent than murder as the end phase of a civilization” and added that “[L]iberalism is the ideology of Western suicide.”
I posit that in the current zeitgeist, the collective suicide of the West is occurring via the orgiastic misfiring of one of our most noble virtues, empathy, which of course is deeply anchored within the ethos of progressive liberals.
Empathy is an admirable virtue; as a social species, we have evolved the capacity for empathy. We seek prospective spouses and close friends who exhibit this trait.
We look for empathetic health care providers be they physicians, therapists, or veterinarians.
But as Aristotle explained millennia ago via his golden mean, all good things in moderation. Too little or too much of anything is often worse than some optimal sweet spot.
This insight applies to empathy as well. Little or no empathy is a hallmark of psychopaths. Too much of it is a telltale sign of the suicidally empathetic, which also includes invoking empathy in the wrong situations toward the wrong targets.
Background: Numerous definitions of empathy exist, making it difficult to understand the concept and teach others how to develop the skill. There is no one definition of empathy all healthcare disciplines accept, creating an obstacle to a constructive debate over the role and importance of empathy in nursing practice. The American Association of Colleges of Nursing developed the Essentials to address the education-practice gap. This included meeting the physical, psychological, emotional, social, cultural, and spiritual needs of individuals requiring palliative/supportive care.
Were you consoled by these expressions of empathy? Did you believe them? Did they make your situation any better, or did they become the replacement for what you really needed: patient listening, ongoing caring, practical help and lasting companionship? Were they ultimately no more than your conversation partner’s gateway to escape from the duty of really hearing you and going through sorrow with you?
Homeowner Jane invites the homeless James to live with her. “I’d hate to be homeless,” she tells herself. James starts to exploit and abuse her. She accepts it. “I would not exploit and abuse someone unless something truly terrible had happened to me,” she thinks. This is what Gad Saad would call “suicidal empathy.” In his book of the same name, the Canadian commentator rails against “the orgiastic misfiring of one of our most noble virtues, empathy.”
There is merit to Saad’s critique. He is correct that empathy is problematic when people exaggerate the similarities between individuals. In all likelihood, James is not exploiting and abusing Jane because he has been maddened by trauma. He is, fundamentally, a less conscientious person.
Empathy” is widely discussed in health and care settings and is increasingly claimed as an attribute of artificial intelligence (AI) systems (eg, socially assistive robots and chatbots), but the term is used inconsistently across the literature. In research on AI in these settings, it is often unclear what authors mean by “empathic AI,” what systems do that is intended to be empathic, and how empathy is assessed. This matters because perceived empathy can shape users’ experience of AI-mediated support and their willingness to engage with these systems.
Objective: This study aims to map how empathy is defined, operationalized, and evaluated in peer-reviewed AI research in health and care settings and to describe int
DEFINING EMPATHY AND COMPASSION Empathy and compassion are related, yet distinct constructs, each of which have multiple dimensions: affective, cognitive, behavioral, intentional, motivational, spiritual, moral, and others. In addition to their multidimensionality, compassion and empathy are crowded by multiple adjacent constrcuts with which they overlap to varying degrees, such as kindness, caring, concern, sensitvity, respect, and a host of behaviors, such as listening, accurately responding, patience and so on.
Both compassion and empathy can be conceptualized at state and/or trait levels: people can have context-dependent experiences of empathy or compassion (i.e., state), or can have a tendency to be empathic or compassionate (i.e., trait). Compassion and empathy also appear to differ in underlying structure as well as brain function. When assessing compassion and empathy, it is often important to measure their opposites, or constructs that present barriers to experiencing and expressing compassion or empathy.
“Compassion fatigue” is more accurately characterized as empathy fatigue, and some evidence indicates that compassion can actually counteract negative aspects of empathy.
Damage to the amygdala has been linked to impairments in empathy, typically documented as deficits in accurately identifying others’ emotional experiences, especially fear. This has led some to theorize that amygdala dysfunction is a core feature of psychopathy. There is growing evidence, however, that motivation to empathize is distinct from empathic accuracy. Moreover, anecdotal observations in patients with amygdala lesions have noted their tendencies to approach, rather than avoid, empathic encounters with strangers, even when the patients have impairments in empathic accuracy.
We conducted a novel investigation specifically examining empathy motivation in patients with amygdala damage. We used a free-choice paradigm to assess motivation to empathize.
This inability to express or feel empathy, it turns out, is serious. It isolates the powerful into their own stereotypes and egotistical certainties, which lessens their ability to make good, or even rational, decisions. (Right, Donald?). And hubris syndrome isn’t merely psychological; it’s also physiological.
Citing neuroscience research, Useem writes: “And when he put the heads of the powerful and the not-so-powerful under a transcranial-magnetic-stimulation machine, he found that power, in fact, impairs a specific neural process, ‘mirroring,’ that may be a cornerstone of empathy. Which gives a neurological basis to what (psychologist Dacher) Keltner has termed the ‘power paradox’: Once we have power, we lose some of the capacities we needed to gain it in the first place.”
In May our theme for Mental Health & Education Week is "Feel Well, Think Well, Learn Well….Together!". When we practice empathy, we help each other feel well by creating safe and supportive spaces, think well by understanding different perspectives without judgment, and learn well…together by growing through shared experiences and mutual care.
This month, we are focusing on the theme of EMPATHY with students as part of their mental health skill-building. Empathy is the ability to understand what someone else may be experiencing by imagining how they might feel or think. It’s about “walking in another person’s shoes,” listening to their perspective without judgment, and expressing our understanding of their emotions. Empathy involves recognizing the humanity in others, being fully present, and validating their feelings. Often, it is the first step toward compassionate action and supporting others in meaningful ways.
Empathy is important because it helps us:
Treat others in the way they want to be treated
Better understand the needs and feelings of those around us
Recognize how our words and actions are perceived by others
Respond more thoughtfully to the needs and experiences of others
A new study is the first to show that two of our most sophisticated cognitive functions, using and understanding language and being able to sense how other people feel, have distinct origins in the brain in young children – matching what we know about the adult brain.
The findings suggest that these separate but related ways of processing complex concepts, both uniquely human skills, do not originate from overlapping brain areas and grow more distinct as the mind matures, which challenges prior theories. Instead, our brains appear to have evolved with discrete architecture and wiring enabling these different kinds of thinking.
At work, the human case for empathy is straightforward: Social connection is one of our greatest sources of well-being, and when workers feel it they grow happier and healthier. Research has now made the business case for it equally clear: Employees of empathic companies do better, working harder, collaborating more efficiently, and generating stronger ideas.
AI, however, is putting human connection at risk. Many workers, deeply concerned about how the technology will change their jobs, are experiencing rising levels of mistrust and “FOBO,” or fear of becoming obsolete. A 2025 study found that when companies adopted AI, employees’ depression levels tended to increase over time.
“Empathy is the starting point for creating a community and taking action. It’s the impetus for creating change.” – Max Carver
We think Max Carver got it right and that if we truly care about community building and making positive changes in the world, we have to invest in learning about how to become even more empathic as empathy is at the heart of true understanding. We asked some deeply empathic leaders to share their perspectives below.
Professor and bestselling author Dr. Gad Saad joins the Chicks on the Right podcast to discuss his explosive new book, Suicidal Empathy: Dying to Be Kind. From the rise of anti-Semitism and open borders to equity, taxation, DEI, political correctness, and the collapse of Western values, Gad Saad delivers an unfiltered conversation packed with satire, sharp analysis, and controversial takes.
The discussion dives into Islam and Western freedoms, Canada’s crushing tax system, Kamala Harris’ focus on equity, Mark Cuban drama, woke language manipulation, and whether the West still has the courage to defend its foundational principles.
If you’re interested in politics, culture wars, free speech, anti-woke commentary, and fearless debates, this episode is for you!
00:00 Intro 01:05 Gad Saad’s legendary sarcasm and satire 02:50 “Suicidal Empathy” explained 03:00 Islam and compatibility with Western values 05:45 Rise of anti-Semitism in the West 08:20 Moderate Muslims & reforming Islam debate 12:00 Canada’s extreme taxation system 18:10 Kamala Harris, equity vs equality 22:00 Mark Cuban unfollows Gad Saad 24:00 Pronouns, performative politics & “phonies” 25:15 Woke language manipulation explained 27:30 “Minor attracted person” & linguistic empathy 30:00 How “Suicidal Empathy” hijacks thinking 33:00 Trump, women’s sports & cultural battles 33:50 “The West lacks testicular fortitude”
Evolutionary psychologist Dr. Gad Saad warned that escalating political rhetoric, including a social media post by actor Mark Hamill showing a headstone for President Donald Trump, reflects a "suicidal" shift in American values.
Speaking on "Jesse Watters Primetime," Saad said the country is being overtaken by a "hyperactive" form of empathy, which in some cases has led to political violence. He said this mindset has "clobbered" reason.
Swap draining affective empathy for cognitive empathy to understand others without losing your perspective.
Avoid empathic tunnel vision to prevent unfair biases and emotional burnout.
Adopt rational compassion over emotional "quick fixes."
That is where the second form of empathy helps. Cognitive empathy is about perspective-taking. It allows you the intellectual understanding of the situation, but doesn't let you be absorbed by feelings and forget the bigger picture. When you utilize cognitive empathy, you are gathering information and creating a mental map of the situation.
Empathy Shadowing Speaking with end users in their own environment during their normal routines is a process called empathic design. This approach sparked the design thinking movement, which puts the user at the center of the design. Research has shown repeatedly in nearly every industry, including healthcare, technology, hospitality, and the financial sector, that observing and experiencing the user’s experience builds empathy.
Empathy shadowing helps leaders understand the full ecosystem—customers, employees, and the processes connecting them. By visiting employees where they actually work, leaders can wrap their head around problems in real time and see them, and their response, as they unfold. Following a patient through the care journey reveals both patient frustrations and the systemic hurdles clinicians and staff face. Listening to customer support calls shows engineers how customers feel and where internal tools create friction. Acting as an anonymous hotel guest exposes service issues and the constraints causing them. Leaders make better decisions when they understand the experience from every perspective.
At the very heart of America’s strength lies the boundless love and quiet power of mothers. We are the most devoted teachers, gently nurturing empathy, inspiring dreams, and guiding our children towards goodness. We help them rise with courage when life grows difficult. In every hug, every story read at bedtime, and every sacrifice made without complaint, mothers build the moral foundation of our families. In doing so, America’s mothers help build the soul of our nation.
I pray you find enduring strength as your loved one serves in defense of our freedom. Most know my husband as the strong Commander-in-Chief, but his empathy transcends the role and shapes a caring leader who constantly remembers each and every American soldier is someone’s child.
“We’re trying to get the kids to think a little bit more introspectively about their feelings since the first step of empathy is recognizing one’s own emotions.”
"The Empathy Handbook" came out of the Educating for Democracy course, part of ASU’s Humanities Lab. The lab is supported by the Create the Change Initiative and the Cultivating Civic Virtues through Action, or CCVA, initiative, granted by the Program for Leadership and Character at Wake Forest University and funded by the Lilly Endowment Inc.
People with high levels of psychopathic tendencies are often incapable of feeling empathy for other people. From a brain science perspective, empathy isn't a single emotion but a multi-part neural process. It involves brain systems that help us share others' feelings, understand their perspectives, and even mentally step into their experience.
In the rapidly evolving landscape of healthcare, empathy remains a crucial yet often elusive attribute among professionals tasked with the care of aging populations. A groundbreaking study published in BMC Geriatrics in 2026 sheds new light on this challenge, investigating the transformative potential of a brief intervention using an aging simulation suit. This randomized controlled trial, led by Serrada-Tejeda and colleagues, explores how immersive experiential learning can enhance clinical empathy in healthcare workers who operate within long-term care settings. The findings hold profound implications for medical training and the future of geriatric care.
At the heart of this study lies an innovative approach to empathy training—deploying an aging simulation suit that physically mimics the sensory and motor impairments associated with aging.
Business schools are under growing pressure to prepare graduates who can act responsibly in a world shaped by deep social inequality and urgent environmental challenges.
However, many educators still rely on learning strategies that prioritise cognitive understanding of social problems over emotional engagement. Students typically learn about social problems through cases, lectures and simulations, which keep human experience at a distance.
Cognitive empathy, or the understanding of what someone is going through, can be taught through cases and simulations. Affective empathy, which is the emotional connection that makes a problem feel personally relevant, cannot. Without it, students struggle to connect deeply to social problems and to act on them.
Empathy plays a central role in healthcare delivery, where higher clinician empathy is consistently associated with improved therapeutic alliance, increased patient satisfaction, better adherence, and improved outcomes.
Empathy-focused educational and behavioral interventions have therefore been increasingly adopted in medical and allied health training programs, with systematic reviews demonstrating moderate but reliable improvements in empathic skills. Educational systems similarly acknowledge empathy as a fundamental social–emotional competency associated with mental health, academic engagement, and prosocial behavior."
For the second time, people in Philadelphia have beaten up a robot. Last month, an Uber Eats delivery robot was kicked over and vandalized. About a decade ago, Hitch Bot was also beaten up in the City of Brotherly Love.
Daryl Cameron, associate professor of psychology at Penn State and director of SSRI's Consortium on Moral Decision-Making, studies how humans interact with, and feel emotion towards artificial intelligence like robots and Large Language Models (LLMs). In this video he explains these interactions show concerns that a lot of people have about AI taking over jobs. But the way people interact with robots and AI also says something about the empathy they have for society.
Cameron was also featured on The Last Show Podcast, where he explores whether true empathy is possible between humans and AI.
The word “empathy” carries a curious linguistic history in meaning that stretches across centuries and languages. It once existed in Greek as empathia (εμπάθεια), a term associated with emotion and inner movement. Today, English uses “empathy” to describe understanding and compassion, while in Modern Greek, empathia often conveys hostility or resentment.
From emotion to excess: The ancient roots of the Greek word “empathy”
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